Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her ChildrenChavasse, Pye Henry
Science
Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her Children
Chavasse, Pye Henry
Child care; Children -- Health and hygiene; Infants -- Health and hygiene
Certainly not. The only way to throw out the eruption, as it is
called, is to keep the body comfortably warm, and to give the
beverages ordered by the medical man, with the chill off. "Surfeit
water," saffron tea, and remedies of that class, are hot and
stimulating. The only effect they can have, will be to increase the
fever and the inflammation--to add fuel to the fire.
215. _What is the treatment of Measles_?
_What to do_.--The child ought to be confined both to his room and to
his bed, the room being kept comfortably warm; therefore, if it be
winter time, there should be a small fire in the grate; in the summer
time, a fire would be improper. The child must not be exposed to
draughts; notwithstanding, from time to time, the door ought to be
left a little ajar in order to change the air of the apartment; for
proper ventilation, let the disease be what it may, is absolutely
necessary.
Let the child, for the first few days, be kept on a low diet, such as
on milk and water, arrow-root, bread and butter, &c.
If the attack be mild, that is to say, if the breathing be not much
affected (for in measles it always is more or less affected), and if
there be not much wheezing, the Acidulated Infusion of Roses' Mixture
[Footnote: See page 178] will be all that is necessary.
But suppose that the breathing is short, and that there is a great
wheezing, then instead of giving him the mixture just advised, give
him a tea-spoonful of a mixture composed of Ipecacuanha Wine, Syrup,
and Water, [Footnote: See page 161] every four hours. And if, on the
following day, the breathing and the wheezing be not relieved in
addition to the Ipecacuanha Mixture, apply a Tola Vesicatoria, as
advised under the head of Inflammation of the Lungs.
When the child is convalescing, batter puddings, rice, and sago
puddings, in addition to the milk, bread and butter, &c, should be
given, and, a few days later, chicken, mutton chops, &c.
The child ought not, even in a mild case of measles, and in favourable
weather to be allowed to leave the house under a fortnight, or it
might bring on an attack of bronchitis.
_What NOT to do_--Do not give either "surfeit water" or wine. Do not
apply leeches to the chest. Do not expose the child to the cold
air. Do not keep the bed room very hot, but comfortably warm. Do not
let the child leave the house, even under favourable circumstances,
under a fortnight. Do not, while the eruption is out, give
aperients. Do not, "to ease the cough," administer either emetic
tartar or paregoric--the former drug is awfully depressing, the latter
will stop the cough, and will thus prevent the expulsion of the
phlegm.
216. _What is the difference between Scarlatina and Scarlet Fever_?
They are indeed one and the same disease, scarlatina being the Latin
for scarlet fever. But, in a _popular_ sense, when the disease is
mild, it is usually called scarlatina. The latter term does not sound
so formidable to the ears either of patients or of parents.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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